Monday, November 7, 2016

Driven to Xanax over election 2016

I am constipated. No, really. TMI? Sorry about that. It is the protest of my digestive system over taking too much Xanax (alprazolam). This presidential election has me more nervous than I have ever been over the outcome of any other. I cannot even watch the news anymore.

We have never had a candidate for President of the United States who is less qualified than Donald J. Trump. Never. In contrast, while Hillary Clinton has been a vulnerable candidate (she has been the object of conservative ire for more than 30 years) I think that she will do a great job as our next president. Clinton is terrible on the stump and Obama is a tough act to follow in that department. In person, by the way, she is warm and witty. Yet I am more interested in Clinton's intellect and judgment than her oratory. I have no concerns over her smarts or how she uses them.

In 1992 I could have lived with another term for George H.W. Bush. While I voted for Bill Clinton, Bush was not terribly odious. Similarly, in 1996 I would have been disappointed but not terribly anxious if Bob Dole had won. In 2000 I heard about Bush v. Gore in my car. I had driven my partner to Otto Tootsi Plohound (a pretentious shoe store, now out of business) on lower Fifth Avenue. Waiting at the curb, while he tried on ugly overpriced footwear, I listened to the news. I was sad. I remember thinking that this was not going to be a West Wing presidency. Bush was no Jed Bartlet. Richard did not buy any shoes and I resumed thinking about a troublesome client.

In 2004 I was furious that the Swift Boat smear was working. Kerry was an absolutely awful candidate. Kerry could have, and should have, denied Bush a second term. I was disappointed and a bit anxious but nothing like I am experiencing today.

In 2008, while I had originally supported Hillary Clinton, by election day I felt strongly in favor of Barack Obama. Nevertheless, I could have lived with John McCain, even with five-watt bulb Sarah Palin. McCain showed real class when he corrected that crazy “he's an Arab” woman. Same for Romney in 2012. Despite the fact that I have a strong dislike for Paul Ryan, Romney is a smart, thoughtful guy. I was delighted that Obama was reelected but could have emotionally withstood his defeat. Romney having the nuclear codes would not have caused me any sleepless nights

None of these people, if they had succeeded, might have blown up the planet. My biggest fears with Trump are that he is a pathological liar and he is intellectually lazy (along with being easily influenced by all the wrong people). Moreover, I get the sense that Trump believes his own bullshit. Not only is Trump incompetent but his running mate is as openly homophobic as any candidate in recent history. Trump lacks the intellectual curiosity to find out how things really work. I am afraid that he will get his answers from people like Alex Jones or even Tony Perkins.

Allow me to don my quality-management hat for a moment or two. There are only two reasons that people don't buy what you have to sell if they should:

They are unaware that they have a problem or;

They are not sufficiently disturbed by their problem to take action to correct it.

Presumably my readers don't fit either reason. Please vote. Twice if you can. We have a major problem!